The European Union has provided a grant of €2 million to fund a new humanitarian mine action initiative in Ukraine, according to the press service of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine. The initiative aims to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance across the country. The project will deploy 16 Belgian Malinois dogs and their eight Ukrainian female handlers, who recently completed five months of extensive training in Cambodia.

“In certain conditions, technical survey dog teams are able to survey large tracts of land much more quickly than human deminers, identifying explosive items and helping to confirm whether land is safe,” stated the press release.

The initiative is a joint effort between APOPO and Mines Advisory Group (MAG), two humanitarian mine action organizations. The dog teams will complement MAG’s manual and mechanical clearance efforts in liberated Ukrainian territories. The teams will help improve the speed and accuracy of identifying contaminated areas, particularly in regions with dense vegetation or difficult terrain. Once the dog teams locate a landmine or unexploded item, MAG’s deminers will be responsible for making it safe. Ukraine currently has large areas contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance, but progress is being made in clearing these areas.

ملخص الأخبار

• 16 Belgian Malinois dogs and 8 Ukrainian handlers completed 5 months of training in Cambodia.
• The project received €2 million grant from the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI).
• Dog teams will supplement MAG’s clearance efforts in Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions in Ukraine.